Margaux and I really enjoyed last night’s brutal episode of The Walking Dead.
Trevor: I’m so confused about Jessie’s husband, aka Cary Elwes in Liar Liar. We called him Paul last week, then in “Spend” two people called him Reg, only for Carol to call him Pete later. Am I stupid? Please solve this mystery for me, because I haven’t been in the dark like this since True Detective. WHAT IS THIS GUY’S NAME.
Margaux: His name isn’t Pete? That’s what I thought I heard the first time and never really bothered to investigate or give a shit beyond what I already thought I knew. With all that being said, Jessie’s husband, whatever the fuck his name is, is severely unhinged. What is up with him CONSTANTLY wanting to give people check ups? Regardless of zombies, people will always hate going to the doctor, ya puke!
Trevor: Okay, I Googled it, it’s Pete. Let us never speak of my confusion again. And yeah, showing up obviously kind of tipsy to Rick’s house before saying “Let me touch your kids” (I’m paraphrasing) is fucking weird. I guess Carol is right: Rick’s gonna have to kill Pete. Which he was going to do even before he found out that Pete was an abusive father and husband.
Margaux: Pretty much. Ever since now-confirmed-your-name-IS-Pete had that awkward “Welcome to Alexandria” exchange with Rick, you knew one of those guys was basically dead and your money is never on Rick. Because that guy ripped out another man’s throat with his teeth.
And even though Sam, Jessie and Pete’s son, confides in Carol – more or less – about his less than ideal home life, alluding to abusive Pete, something about that felt so easy that it almost had to be a misunderstanding.
I don’t think it’s misunderstood that Rick was looking for a reason to kill Pete though.
Trevor: I think everyone is looking for a reason to kill Pete. With the exception of Deanna and Jessie, everyone at Alexandria kinda sucks. Like, of course Aiden listens to EDM to get himself pumped up to make a supply run. And of course his friend is a total pussy who will leave him there before trying to steal the van from Eugene.
Speaking of Eugene: I love that guy’s dialogue. Josh McDermitt really commits to playing a weirdo and self-confessed coward, and his old-timey jargon like “home and hearth” has echoes of Justified’s Boyd Crowder. On paper, Eugene should be very unlikable, especially since DC turned out to be a load of shit, but McDermitt’s performance goes a long way towards redeeming the character. (And to be fair, if they weren’t on the road to DC, Aaron wouldn’t have found them and brought them to Alexandria.)
Margaux: I laughed so hard when fucking Aiden fired up the van and started blasting a fucking MIX he MADE (I can’t even find a CD to burn music onto today, in 2015…) because OF COURSE this guy is the biggest douche in the undead world. I mean, good for you bruh, sorry your DJ career didn’t pan out. And double asshole for mixing in the audio clip, “prepare to die.” Are you shitting me?
I was really glad that the supply run with Aiden and Nick gave Eugene the opportunity to actually fucking do something and be a hero in his own way. Sure, it’s hilarious that Eugene’s approach to walkers is similar to a 13 year old girl at Universal Halloween Horror Nights but the heart McDermitt brings to Eugene really does spare him from seeming like a total waste member of the group.
Trevor: And you gotta hand it to The Walking Dead, five seasons in they’re still finding new ways to kill zombies (remember Rick’s flare gun execution a few episodes ago). Aiden, the world’s worst shot, blowing up a walker by shooting a grenade (?) on its chest was pretty cool.
Margaux: Not to skip ahead too much but the revolving glass door Glenn, Noah, and Nick get trapped in with walkers all around was terrible and amazing – definitely something we haven’t gotten to see before. Come to think of it, last night had a lot of cool kills in it and they managed to spread the story arcs around in a way that kept the pacing fresh and quick.
So, is Alexandria’s policy when they’re outside of the walls is, if you’re trouble, fuck it leave whomever behind and bail? Because that’s what it looks like. Not doing anything to make the group think y’all ain’t soft as a baby’s butt.
Trevor: Seriously, and everyone knows it too. Except for Aiden (RIP, you were halfway decent in your final hours). I particularly liked Abe’s scenes, where he showed everyone what the fuck is up. Actually, that’s all anyone has been doing since they got to Alexandria. Every episode description should just be “______ shows Alexandrians what the fuck is up.”
But I really, really liked that the foreman (for lack of a better word) basically cedes leadership of the group to Abe, after seeing how much better-suited he is to it. That was remarkably humble. It takes guts to admit that if things had gone according to your plan, someone would be dead. And it says a lot about the strong writing behind “Spend” that in just that brief scene we get a lot of detail about a character whose name I don’t even know.
Margaux: Is he the guy who offered Carol a gun lesson? Not like I know that guys name either…
Anyway, how about Father Gabriel turning out to be Judas? That ungrateful SOB, after the group saved his ass more times than I can remember, the coward totally throws the group under the bus by telling Deanna that they’re, in essence, not good people.
Even though he’s not super far off, hinting they’ll eventually do something to ruin the utopia she’s built, what the shit dude? I mean, I know he’s not the most loyal priest, he did leave his flock to get mauled while he just sat inside and listened but COME ON. That was a low blow. Good thing Maggie overheard the whole thing.
Trevor: Father Gabriel is about to learn a very important lesson: talk shit, get hit. I can’t imagine Rick is going to take too kindly to learning he’s been sold out. But I don’t know how seriously Deanna took Gabriel to begin with. Sure, he’s a man of the cross, which earns him a bit of esteem, but every single member of Rick’s group has lived up to their reputation. Daryl is even a recruiter now! They’re not going anywhere.
I predict one of two things will happen: either Rick (or one of the other group members) will retaliate at Gabriel, or Deanna will give us a glimpse at what I can only imagine is Alexandria’s dark underbelly, because every utopia on The Walking Dead has a dark underbelly. Either way, it was nice that Gabriel got something to do for the first time in weeks, and it will make for an interesting conflict down the road.
Margaux: Here’s another interesting conflict, Glenn being forced to watch Noah die because Nick (Aiden’s broham who left him to die moments earlier with the parting words, ‘we’re cowards’) was a limp dick and put Glenn and Noah in the position – namely Noah – to take on a horde of walkers that you know they cannot handle. And then, tried to hijack the van from Eugene, that has a concussed Tara in the back – who, let’s face it, is in all likelihood way dead but this is The Walking Dead so, maybe not.
I don’t understand why Glenn didn’t follow Eugene’s instinct of straight murdering Nick in that parking lot and leaving his ass there, HE FUCKING KILLED NOAH! HE WAS GOING TO BE AN ARCHITECT YOU PRICK!
Trevor: Glenn knocking Nick the fuck out was extremely satisfying, especially in the wake of Noah’s incredibly gruesome death. This show is neck and neck with Game of Thrones for a complete lack of sentimentality when it comes to showing the deaths of its main characters. Great face acting by Steven Yuen in that scene too. Nick done goofed, because the last person you wanna piss off is the Ricktator.
Also, Everyone Ate Chris. Sorry.
Margaux: Hahaha it’s not Bob’s Burgers.
They have not been holding back on the gruesome deaths lately and Noah was not an exception, the whole supply run arc went so spectacularly south, and quickly. Lots of bodies dropped last night and with all the not-so-subtle hints at Alexandria’s walls needing more attention, I’m betting there will be more bodies to add to the count.
Trevor: As a pointedly displayed sign read, “Big Things Are Coming.”
Overall, I’d say “Spend” was the best episode so far of season five’s back half. It looks like after a couple false starts that TWD is gaining momentum…just in time to end in two episodes. But this was well-acted, -written, and -directed (by Jennifer Lynch, a veteran of MTV’s Finding Carter who is oddly well suited to this material).
Margaux: Despite The Walking Dead’s maddening habit of getting good just in time to end things until October, “Spend” was a highly entertaining episode that answered a lot of questions while stirring the pot for what’s to come. Plus, Eugene’s hair was looking pretty fly last night – very Elvis. I wonder where he’s finding all the hair gel and/or spray in this world to maintain that coiffe…
Trevor: That will be the big, Governor-style reveal of Eugene, the only man rocking cargo shorts in the apocalypse (not counting Will Forte on The Last Man on Earth). You wanna talk stars? As you can tell, I am very charitably inclined towards this episode.
Margaux: I’m going to go with 4 ½ stars, the only thing that didn’t work for me (and just hasn’t and probably won’t) was the Rick/Jessie/My Lifetime Movie Husband bullshit going on. Look, you wanna kill a weirdo who really wants to listen to your heart beat? FINE. You’re Rick, I don’t really need you to have an excuse but please, can we not do this other part with the romance and Jessie needing to be saved? PLEASE.
Trevor: I think “You’re Rick” is every director’s answer when Andrew Lincoln asks “What’s my motivation?”
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